Article on Evolution of Guardianship Law in Rhode Island

Mark B. Heffner recently published an Article entitled, From Idiots and Lunatics to Incapacitated Persons and Respondents: The Evolution of Guardianship Law in Rhode Island, 21 Roger Williams U. L. Rev. 554 (2016). Provided below is a summary of the Article:

This article will first examine Rhode Island’s guardianship laws during the more than 200 years from Rhode Island’s colonial era until 1985, and label this time as the “Dark Period.” In the next sections, entitled “First Light” and the “Dawn,” this Article will discuss how, after this over 200 year period of relative dormancy, Rhode Island’s guardianship evolved rapidly over the comparatively short period between 1985 through 1996. This article will conclude with a section entitled “After the Dawn,” which will examine what has occurred (and has not occurred) in the twenty years following this period of rapid change.

Rhode Island’s guardianship laws and its changes will be viewed through the prism of two areas: the grounds for the initiation of a guardianship proceeding and the procedural rights of the individual for whom the guardianship is sought. Guardianships, of course, involve many other aspects and requirements; however, focusing on these two significant areas will provide most vivid insight to Rhode Island’s guardianship laws as they once existed and as they now are.

To highlight this evolution, this article will focus on provisions of Rhode Island’s statutes pertaining to guardianship of adults. For, as the Rhode Island Supreme Court pointed out in Trustees of House of the Angel Guardian, Boston v. Donovan, “in this state the probate court derives its jurisdiction wholly from the statute.” Accordingly, this article will emphasize statutory provisions, discussing reported decisions of the Rhode Island Supreme Court which interpret the enactments of the General Assembly.